Alpha Markus
Chapter 16

Celeste P.O.V.

“Bella?” He whispered. I stared in shock at the gentleman in front of me and heard the shattering of a bottle.

“Who is Bella?” Beta Gillian asked.

I started hyperventilating and felt the room spinning. How did this man know who my mother was? Was I in danger? I felt my eyes glow and then flip back and forth to black as Kara tried to take over. My flight or fight response forcing her forward even though she kept telling me to breathe.

We’re safe. Markus won’t let anyone hurt us. He is our mate. He can protect us. Breathe Celeste. -Kara said gently, trying to push herself back into the recesses of my brain.

“Celeste? Are you OK? Talk to me. Dad, what did you do to her?” I heard Markus growl. And then it hit me. This was his father. Of course he must have known my parents. He would have been Alpha at the same time as my parents. I felt tears flow from my eyes as I realized I must look like my mother. I could barely remember her, my mind having pushed those memories back in order for me to live. I suddenly felt my body jerk backwards and I could see my mother and father laughing and playing with a 4-year-old version of myself by a lake. My mother looked like me, but she had straight brown hair whereas I’d gotten my hair color, curls and eyes from my father. I felt myself jerk back to the present and an instant migraine hit me. I tried not to cry out. “Celeste! What’s wrong?” Markus lifted me and placed me on the couch as he felt my pain. It was so overwhelming, but his scent was beginning to soothe it. I hung on to him for dear life.

“Who is Bella, Dad?” he asked this time.

“Bella was my mother.” I said, knowing that I had hit the point of no return. I worked hard to get my breathing under control. It was time to come clean about who I was. I gently extricated myself from Markus’ arms and stood up, looking at everyone in the room. “My name is Celeste Aurora Dellarosa, daughter of Alpha Cory and Luna Bella Dellarosa, the last leaders of the Sky Moon Pack,” I said with a raised head, my eyes glowing. I then saw everyone’s eyes go wide as they realized who I was.

“You’re the spitting image of your mother. Except for the hair and eyes,” Markus’ dad said. His brows furrowed, his eyes watered, “I thought you were dead. We looked for you among the bodies. We were told there were no survivors that day. How is this even possible?”

“My father’s Gamma saved me. He warned me I would be in danger if anyone knew who I was. He gave me his last name. He tried to get help,” I said, and then, because I needed the warmth of my mate, I sat back down on the couch and leaned against him. I felt his arms go around my waist before I continued, “They killed all the mated werewolves in my pack and most of the male children that would remember the slaughter. I heard them looking for me, but as I was one of the few ranked pups at the time, not many knew who I was. I lied about my age and my name. The unmated women were taken back to B***d Moon Pack. The ones that didn’t replace a mate there, disappeared shortly after. The few of us pups that were taken before we had our wolves, were basically slaves until we came of age. We know once one of us reached the age, they were sent to be introduced to the unmated warriors on the next full moon. The ones that didn’t replace a mate were never seen again.”

I felt rage building in the room as I talked. Markus’ fingers were almost digging into my h**s as he tried to restrain himself. His eyes were black.

“That’s illegal! How is he getting away with this!” Markus’ dad raged. His mate was silently crying while clutching him tightly. “What is happening to these women? How has no one noticed this happening? Why has no one denounced these heinous behavior?”

I was about to begin talking when I felt Markus shift. I looked back up at him and he was looking at Beta Gillian, “Tell them.” He said calmly while stroking my back.

“We have been noticing some strange behavior from the B***d Moon Pack for a couple of months. We had suspicions that they have been trafficking she-wolves in the black market for a while now. We have been trying to figure out which Alphas can be trusted and which can’t, but we also need to replace proof. It is the only way to bring other packs in as allies and to make sure the council will take our accusations seriously. Daniel is due back next week. He’s been following some people we think have been in charge of the exchange end of the trafficking.”

I tensed, “Trafficking?”

“On the black market,” He nodded.

Everything made sense then. The reason why we were treated so poorly, why they disappeared once they had their wolves. Why they never bothered to include us into the Pack fully and why it only seemed to happen to the people of my pack. I felt Kara trying to push forward. I hadn’t realized I had stood up. I felt my eyes glow but it felt different. I felt a pain starting to form behind my eyes. Everyone seemed to be moving away from me except Markus.

“Celeste? Are you Ok? Sweetheart can you look into my eyes?” I looked at him then and the pressure I had been feeling behind my eyes disappeared. There was a small shriek and Gillian said, “Fire!” in alarm. They grabbed the curtains behind me and stomped on them, putting the small fire out.

I suddenly felt very tired. I could barely hold my head upright. Markus lifted me up bridal style, “Let’s continue this conversation in my room. The office is sound proof but we need to be 100% sure we’re not being heard.” He pushed past and went towards the elevator and turned around at the last second. “Marie, could you please grab something to help with a migraine. I can feel she’s got one,” His dad’s mate nodded and hurried off as we waited for the elevator to arrive.

“Got it,” She came running back, just in time to hear the ding of the elevator.

‘Are you OK?’ Markus asked

‘I am not sure. This is all….it’s a lot,’ I answered honestly.

I felt him k**s my head and I smiled.

‘We will get through whatever together,’ he assured me.

‘My friends…the other girls that were taken from my parent’s pack. I knew they were disappearing but I had no idea this was happening. We need to go back for the ones that are left.’

‘We will. Do you know which of them turns of age next? We can focus our efforts on tracking her. We hadn’t been able to figure out where he was getting the she-wolves.’

‘Yes, I think it was Ruby. Next month, since Maya was next, but she’s safe’

‘We will need you and Maya to work with a friend to get a composite of her together. Will you be able to do that?’

‘I think so. Markus?’

‘Yes?’

‘Do we have to tell Maya who I am? She will be mad I lied to her. She’s the closest thing I’ve had to a friend’

‘I don’t think we should hide who you are anymore, love. You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to you. I will let you tell her on your terms though.’

‘Will she think I failed her?’ I asked, voicing the one question that I asked myself when I was in the deepest holes of despair all these years.

‘Fail her? How could you possibly fail her?’

‘I am the Alpha’s daughter. They were still my people and I let the Alpha do this to them?’ Suddenly I heard a low growl coming from Markus. We were headed towards the rooms now but everyone stopped and looked our way.

“Will you all please wait out here for a moment? I need a moment with the Luna,” He said as he opened the door to his room.